"
Appendix
to chap, xix.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
687, in Armorica an earthquake ; at A.
D.
688, it rained blood in the island of Britain and in Ireland ; at a.
d.
690, the milk and butter turned to blood ; and, at a.
d.
692, the moon
of this King, that for seven days it rained blood
"
converso etiam lacte, caseo, et butiro in sanguinem. " This account appears to have been taken from the Saxon Chronicle, which refers such phenomenon to A. D. 685. Caradoc states, that in the fifth year of the reign of Ivor, King over the Britons, and who began his rule A. D. 689, showers of blood fell in Britain and Ireland. Those showers caused milk and butter to be converted into a sanguineous colour. The Annals of Clon- macnoise assign this portent in Ireland to a. d. 688 ; the Annals of the Four Masters to A. D. 690 ; and the Annals Tighernach to a. d. 693. The latter Annals state, that
throughout the whole of Britain,
reign
"
the blood flowed in streams for three days turned of a bloody colour. See Brut y
and three nights. See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's
Twysogion ; or the Chronicle of the Princes," edited by Rev. John Williams ab Ithel, M. A. , pp. 2 to 5. With some
"
Tigernachi Annales, p. 217.
Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomusii.
portents,
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 493
Adamnan is said to have witnessed, previous to the date for holding a very celebrated synod. The account is contained in a Tract styled the Fis Adamnain, or the Vision of Adamnan, an Irish composition of considerable antiquity,3 as proved by its style. Copies of it are yet extant. Like the visions of St. Fursey,4 it embodies a narrative, which passed current in conver- sation, as the realities of our saint's experience. This so-called Vision of Adamnan was written prosaically, partly in Latin, and partly in Irish. s This tract is a religious discourse on the text of the cxlvi. Psalm,6 verses 5 and 6,7 as taken from the Vulgate Version. Of these it opens with a paraphrase. A copy is to be found 8 in the Leabhar Breach a manuscript belonging to the Royal Irish Academy. 10 Another is stated to be in the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris. " There is also a copy of it—a quarto vellum "—among #
the Royal Irish Academy s MSS. *3 An imperfect copy was also in the hands of John McNamara, Esq. , Assistant Secretary to the Iberno-Celtic Society.
In the year 1870, appeared the first published original Irish text and literal English translation of Adamnan's vision,I4 furnished by Whitley
1*
and transcribed from Mr. Joseph O'Longan's lithographic 16
Stokes, Esq. ,
facsimile of the Lebor na Huidre, a manuscript of the eleventh
century. In the tract, published by Dr. Stokes, the Irish text is given, but in English characters on one page, with a literal English version on the opposite. The
prose tract itself is highly poetical in style of composition ; it has much literary merit ; and besides, it is one of the strangest among the medieval visions, which begin with that of the Irish St. Fursey, and culminate in that well-knownandsublimepoem,theDivinaComediaofDante. Dr. Stokesis
of opinion, however, that this piece is not the genuine production of Adamnan. That it cannot be older than the eleventh century, he thinks deducible from various reasons assigned. * After some introductory
variations of date, these prodigies are recorded in the "Annales Cambrise," by the same editor, at p. 8.
"
Suscipiens mansuetos Dominus : hu- milians autem peccatores usque ad terram. "
"There
no reason to question the antiquity of the
3 O'Donovan John
says,
8 The xVoArhnAm consists of two appears pp
parts, the Vision, and the Application. It occupies
eight double-columned folio pages.
9 At fol. 127 . a.
I0 This manuscript was written in the
fifteenth century, and extracts of it are to be found in John O'Donovan's •' Irish Gram- mar," at pp. 119, 341, 349, 350, 370, 381, 382, 440-442.
"Classed,AncienFond. No. 8175.
"Classed, No. 226.
I3 It is to be found in the Hodges and foitlfiijeA-o "oo A-OAmnAn . h. Chine, a Smith Collection.
vision. "—" Irish Grammar," p. 440.
4 See, this account in his Acts, which are
already given, and will be found, at the 16th of January, in the First Volume of this work, Art. i.
"
"
s The Irish part begins,
1f eAt) in po cpA pojuif ACAf -otijeA-o AinmcAi|i-oeAfa peAp n epm-o ffn& tepuJA-6 a ccopp ACAf a nAtitriAtro, FfUA hm-oApbA-o ptAij ACAf jemce acap ofinibA-6 -01b, AmtnL po
comtti "Oe ACAp pAcrpuicc. "
M " Fis Adamnain. " Slicht It is intituled ;
Here is
set down laws and regulations of spiritual Libair na Huidre. Adamnan's Vision,
friendship for the men of Ireland, for the Transcribed and Translated from the Book of correction of their bodies and souls, for ex- the Dun Cow. With notes. Fifty copies
pelling from them plagues and infidels, and privately printed ; Simla, printed at the manslaughter, as it was revealed to Adam- station press by J. Elston, mdccclxx.
nan, the descendant of Tine, in the counsel of God and Patrick. "— Edward O'Reilly's
Small 4to, 40 pages.
,s He has extended the contractions of the
"
Account of Hundred Irish Writers," p. 1.
Four
Irish and printed them in Italics.
Chronological
nearly
original
,6 The original is preserved in the Royal
6 The subject of this Psalm is an exhorta-
tion to praise God for his benefits.
i
Irish Academy's Library. The scribe of this MS. was murdered in the year 1 106.
"Magnus virtus ejus : numerus,
et
et sapientia ejus non est philological
he
states,
Dominus
are: first from the evidence adduced in its characteristics of Middle Irish ; next from
noster,
'7
magna These,
494 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September23.
observations regarding certain visions vouchsafed to the Apostles and Disciples of Jesus Christ, and in which they were shown mysteries and hidden things of Heaven's kingdom, the vision relates what was manifested to Adamnan Ua Tinne, the high sage of the western world, when his soul
passed
body
22
onthefestivalof the 18andwhenit was John Baptist,
fromhis
carried to Heaven by his guardian angel to behold the angels there, and towards Hell, to behold its wretched hosts. At first are described his intro- duction to the brilliancy and radiance of the celestial courts, their economy and order ; as also the glorious presence of the mighty Lord, with the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, the Pure Virgin Mary, the Disciples of Christ, the Virgins and bright hosts of souls around the throne. Six gates of pro- tection, each under the charge of special angels, have to be passed, before the soul is admitted to the presence of God. Having related all that was witnessed, in either place of abode, he especially noticed in that of torment
1
those Aircinnechs, who, in presence of the saints' relics, * administered
God's gifts and tithes, but who turned the profits from the strangers and poor of our Lord to their own private ends. Elsewhere, he brands those as " Sensual Aircinnechs. " This narrative proceeds to state, that Adamnan's soul desired to remain in the happy region. There it heard from behind
him, through a veil, the voice of his guardian angel, commanding it to be replaced in the same body from which it had passed ; and that it should relate in ecclesiastical and lay assemblies and conventions, Heaven's rewards andHell'spains,suchastheconductingangelhadrevealedtohim. Where- fore it was the precept, which Adamnan preached while he was alive. It was this precept, too, which had been preached in the great Convention of the men of Erin, when Adamnan's Rule was imposed on the Gaedhil ; and when women were made free by Adamnan and Finachta Fledach,20 son to Dunchadh, son to Aedh Slaine, the King of Erin, and likewise by the men of Erin. For it happened, that men and women went into battles and into conflicts indiscriminately, until Adamnan's regulations were imposed. In this descriptive tract, we find the glory of the Most High and the felicity of the Saints in Heaven portrayed ; the middle state of Purgation is delineated ; the dreadful pains and the inhabitants of Hell are also exhibited to us in all their hideous deformity. A considerable portion of the compo- sition must be regarded as purely the product of the writer's imagination, and drawn in a great measure from the description of the Heavenly Jerusalem,
in the Book of the 21 In its Apocalypse.
as St. given by
the
present form, it possesses internal evidence sufficient to prove, that it is
John
Evangelist
the author's mention of tithes, which Domus-martirum by Tirechan in Liber according to Dr. Reeves were unknown in Armacanus, fob 15, ba.
20
—reference to the imperial edict of Domitian vention was held under his successor,
Ireland until after 703; thirdly, from his
This is an anachronism; for the con-
Loingsech, son of Aengus. Finachta was slain in 693, according to Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters. " He was immediately succeeded by Loingsech. See vol. i. , pp. 296, 297.
2I
See chap. xxi. ,xxii.
"It mentions oechmA-o. A, "tithes,"
which were not known in Ireland, until
was the technical term among the Irish for
a saint's relics. From reliquice comes the contains an anachronism regarding the
a forgery according to Muratori of the period between 755 and 766—and, fourthly, from his anachronism about the Convention, at which Irish women were freed from liability to fight in battles. See p. I.
18
29th of August.
19 The word in the original is mAjtcfiA. It
His Decollation is celebrated on the
M
sepulchretum," and from Martyres, the tttAficAfire-Ach ot the Annals of Ulster at A. D. 721, 754, 1055, latinized
Convention at which Irishwomen were freed from liability to engage in battle, by Fin- nachta the Festive. Moreover, it fails in
Irish |ieiti5,
longafterthetimeofAdamnan. Again,it
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 495
u""" the Gorta, or Famine ; the Nuno or Scarcity ;
of Fruit " ;
23 A second vision, or rather a to supplement
not Adamnan's
the first vision follows. In it, the wickedness of Ireland's inhabitants, and also those mortalities with which they were visited, and must yet be visited, are
composition.
recounted. It mentions such visitations, as the Scamhach, or "
the Bo-ar, or M Cow " the toraid, or " mortality j Digbail Blight
"
" Human Mortality. " It announces, that prayer and fasting are the only sure preservatives against an infliction of those various evils. 2* The second part of Adamnan's vision contains instructions for the 35 that
was on the feast of the Decollation of the 26 apprehended, John Baptist.
How far St. Adamnan extended his missionary labours and travels
throughout Ireland has not been clearly ascertained, but some traces may be inferredfromtraditionsthatremain. WhenonavisittoIreland,Adamnan
2
is said to have preached to his relatives, ? the descendants of Fiacha, son to
and on a hill in the townland of 28 which ever since has borne Niall, Syonan,
his name. 29 The place is in the parish of Ardnurcher, diocese and county of Meath. 3°
The church of Raphoe, originally founded by St. Columkille, seems afterwards to have been presided over by St. Adamnan—also called Eunan— who is regarded as the Patron Saint. Local tradition states, that Adamnan
passed some time at this place, and memorials of him exist in that "
neighbourhood. AtRathbothorRaphoe, thefortofboothsorcottages," it has been thought, Adamnan or Eunan spent some of his closing years in
Ireland, not uninfluenced, perhaps, by the opposition of the island
monastery to its abbot's unremitting efforts to secure uniformity in the time
for celebrating Easter with the rest of the Christian Church. There above
every other place were his relatives powerful, and an episcopal See might
have been established in his time; the silence of early writers on this
matter not leaving it improbable, that he was then in episcopal orders. The
bishop of Raphoe—as our ancient annalists state—was Coarb of Adamnan,
or Coarb of Columba and Adamnan, the latter name being the distinctive one
in that place. 3
1
In like manner, at Raphoe was shown an object called Eunan's
authenticity, as is sufficiently manifested, prophesied by Columbcille, Moling and
from a reference to the Imperial Edict of Constantine of a donation to Sylvester, AbbotofRome.
23 The language of the Vision is marked by many characteristics of Middle-age Irish ; such as the confusion of e and i in desinence;
Aireran. The Annals of Clonmacnoise, at
550, attribute the prediction concerning the
ScuabFanaitto BeeMaDe,KingDermot
mac Cerbhail's poet. See Dr. O'Donovan's
"
Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (z. ), p. 196.
ae for and // for la, In ;
ndfor nn, ur for
2fi The of 29th day
putting
August.
2? This was the local tradition.
air, er, prosthesis of /; metathesis of cs and is ; final a for ae, at, e ; in the
Preface, p. liii.
2
3I After a lapse of 1,300 years, since the death of St. Columkille, a great Festival was inaugurated and celebrated at Gartan, in the County of Donegal, the place of his
oe,
28
It is Suix>e A-oArhnAm in Irish, that is, article disuse of the neuter forms of the " Seat of Adamnain. " The ruins oi a nom. and ace. singular, and use of na castle exist here, but Macgeoghegan says
for the nom. plural m. , the dual, and the that it was not church land.
dat. plural; in adjectives, use of the fem. *9 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the form in the nom. plural masc. ; and in the Four Masters," at a. d. 703, vol. i. , n. (u), case of verbs compounded with prepositions, p. 305.
use of absolute instead of subjoined forms. 3° See Rev. A. Cogan's "Diocese of
24 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's Meath, ancient and modern," vol. ii. , "Life of St. Columba.
" Appendix to chap, xix. , p. 497.
5The note on the Feilire of Aengus at
this day states, that the Scuab a Fanait or
Besom of Fanad was a plague which was to
visit Ireland in the latter times, in revenge birth. The observations contained in the for the beheading of John the Baptist, as text are arguments advanced by a djs-
averting mortality
Leprosy ;
aud the Dunibadh, or
496 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [Septembera3.
Bed, in the seventeenth century ; and a Round Tower, which the Bishops of
a
Raphoe had converted into a Museum,3 was there a short time previous.
Before Adamnan had been promoted as Abbot of Iona, Colgan expressly calls him Abbot at Raphoe. 33 Whether he filled the latter position or not has been questioned ; but, he was the person, by whose name the succession at Raphoe used to be distinguished. 34 He was particularly revered as the patron Saint of its monastery and church. It is considered as certain, that he had been closely connected with that place ; and if not absolutely the founder of its church, he was, at least, an abbot there over its monastery. 35 It is strongly suspected, by the learned Dr. Lanigan, that St. Eunan,36 who is usually called the first bishop of Raphoe, was no other than Adamnan ;37 not that he would allow Adamnan had ever been a bishop, for, were it so, he could not have become abbot of Hy, but that he was the ancient patron Saint of the place before it became an episcopal See, the period for such erection not being known. An object of veneration, called the Holy Cross ofRaphoe,stoodthereformerlyj perhapsithadsomerelationtothepatron saint. 38 The cross in question was afterwards removed from Raphoe to Armagh, by John Prene, Archbishop of this latter See, about the year 1441. 39 An opinion has been entertained, likewise, that Adamnan was abbot at Raphoe, which perhaps had been founded by himself, before he was appointed to govern the whole Columban order. Whether or not he repaired the monastery, said to have been erected by St. Columkille at Raphoe, may be doubted, as we find no sufficient warrant for this statement. *
In the present century, a suitable memorial of religious zeal and devotion has been raised to commemorate St. Adamnan or Eunan at Raphoe.
tinguished prelate, to show that Adamnan of
Iona was the same as Eunan, first bishop
of Raphoe. See an interesting illustrated
publication of the proceedings, intituled :
" Cuimne Coluimcitte," or the Gartan
Festival, being a Record of the Celebration very remarkable circumstance, that the
held at Gartan on the 9th June, 1897, the Thirteenth Centennial of St. Columba," Second Introduction, pp. 10 to 12. Dublin 1898, 8vo.
32 " Ostendebatur Raphoe, non ita pri-
dem, lectus ejus. Ibi porro turris erat
rotunda, colli imposita, in qua Episcopi Rapotenses Musseum olim habebant. "—Sir James Ware, " I)e Praesulibus Hibernise Commentarius. " Episcopi Rapotenses, p. 73.
festival of the saint called Eunan, is kept on the 23rd of September. Now this was the very day, on which Adamnan died, and on which his memory was revered, not only at Raphoe, but in many other churches. The name Eunan, is, I allow, not favour- able to the conjecture of his identity with
person better versed in the Irish language 33 See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta than I am might perhaps find some analogy
between them. " — " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xiii. , sect, v. , n. 59, p. 100.
38 In Dr. ODonovan's "Annals of the wise of Adamnan, insomuch as he had been Four Masters," vol. iv. , pp. 750, 751, we
Appendix ad Acta S. Columbae, cap. iii.
34 Thus Malbrigid, who died Archbishop of Armagh in 926, is called comorban or
successor, not only of St. Patrick, but like-
abbot and not bishop at Raphoe as Harris states, before he was raised to the See of
See Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
read, under the year 1397, a certain Hugh
MacMahon recovered his sight by fasting
in honour of the Holy Cross of Raphoe,
and the image of the blessed regarding
Armagh.
" of Bishops
Raphoe," p.
270.
35 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiastical Virgin Mary at Ath-Trim. In Harris'
History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xviii. , sect, v. , n. 59, p. 99.
—supposed to be first bishop at Raphoe— nor could Ware discover any account of him. The first bishop of Raphoe, that we meet
Bishops of Raphoe," p.
36 Colgan never mentions this St. Eunan
with on Colgan's List, was Malduin Mac
Kinfalaid, who died about 930. See
"Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Appendix
ad Acta S. Columbae, cap. vi. ( p. 509.
3? TheRev. Dr. Laniganadds "
: Itisa
Adamnan
have been might some
but there
reason for this variation of names, and a
;
"
Ware, vol. i. ,
270, this Hugh MacMahon is incorrectly styled Hugh Matthew.
39 See ibid.
40 It is affirmed, however, in Harris' Ware,
vol. i. ,
"
Bishops of Raphoe," p. 269.
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 497
While the Very Rev. Bernard Kelly, P. P. and V. F. , was in charge of the Parish of Raphoe, he conceived the idea of erecting a new Catholic Church
with appropriate ceremony, and the building was soon afterwards completed. The front of the
in honour of the Patron. *1 He entrusted the to Mr. design
Heavy, Architect in Belfast, who drew the plans and prepared the specifications for an Irish-Romanesque structure of moderate dimensions, and of unassuming ornament, but of effective style. In 1878 the foundation stone was laid,
Exterior of Catholic Church of St. Eunan, Raphoe.
suitableness in the
gable ; higher still is
a smaller window, and above it on the apex of the roof is a cross while on the
;
left-hand angle, a
round-tower, reach- ing to 'the height of 94 feet, terminated
by a tapering cap, and a neat iron cross
6 feet in height, pre- sents an imposing
In the
appearance.
upper compartment are round-headed opes to favour the sounds of a bell; beneath are two other windows of smaller dimensions to admit light to the different stages ; at the base
are projections in string courses on the outside ; and there is a doorway within
which connects it with the interior of the nave This latter extends from the entrance door 73 feet to the altar railing, while the width of the nave is 26 feet 4 inches. The masonry is finely dressed ; the walls are of sufficient thickness to give an air of solidity to the entire erection ; and buttresses are
41 The accompanying view of the exterior Festival ; being a Record of the Celebration of St. Eunan's Catholic Church, Raphoe, held at Gartan on the 9th June, 1897, the has been copied from an interesting and Thirteenth Centennial of St. Columba. " illustrated volume, issued to commemorate Dublin, M. H. Gill and Son, 1898, 8vo. a remarkable event, which had a special The photogravure, at p. 175, has been interest and attraction for the people of copied and transferred to the wood, en-
Donegal. Thebookinquestionisintituled: gravedbyGregorGrey.
Cuirhne Coluimcille," or the Gartan 42 The foregoing particulars were kindly
church is entered by a circularly-headed
doorway,surmounted by a rose window
of
corresponding
II
498 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September23.
on the outside. The rounded chancel, or apse, within which the altar stands, reaches to 17 feet from the enclosing rail to the end window. The three windows within the chancel are each 6 feet in height, by 2 feet in width. A vestry is built on the epistle-side of the altar, while access to it is through a door on the exterior, as also through one on the interior. On either side-wall of the nave are three circularly-headed windows ; each window is 1 1 feet in height, by 3 feet in width ; and they are filled in with coloured glass. On the interior of the church, the roof is elegantly coved and ribbed ; while it is sheeted with pitch-pine and varnished. It rests on
brackets having a good appearance. On the appointment of the present
Interior of St. Eunan's Catholic Church, Raphoe.
respected parish priest, Very Rev. Patrick Kelly, in 187 1, to meet the require- ments of his people, it was found necessary to erect a gallery, which is a great accommodationformanyofthecongregation. Accesstoitisfromacircular stair-way in the tower, and on it is an organ-loft and choir. The gallery is lighted from the rose window over the front entrance. '*'
It is related, that the illustrious Adamnan collected the Martra or Relics of the Saints into one Shrine. An ancient Codex«3 enumerates the twenty-six articles which were enclosed in it, consisting of manuscripts of
furnished to the writer by the Very Rev. 43 Contained in a Bruxelles Manuscript of Patrick Kelly, P. P. , in communications the Burgundian Library, classed No. dated March, 1899, with a photograph of 2324=40, p. 26. This was copied by the interior, from which the accompanying Michael O'Clery, ir. 1629, from " an old illustration has been reproduced and en- and difficult blackish manuscript of parch-
graved on the wood by Gregor Grey. ment. "
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 499
the Gospels, hymns, and poems ; articles of apparel belonging to the Saints of Ireland ; and a few relics of St. Paul and the Virgin Mary ; the aggregateofwhichmusthavefilledalargebox. ThisReliquaryseemsto have been deposited in a place, originally called Cnoc-na-maoile,*4 but afterwards known from the foregoing circumstances as Serin Adamhnain, or Adamnan's Shrine. At present, the place is denominated Skreen, a parish church^ in the diocese of Killala, county of Sligo, barony of Tireragh. It is bounded on the north by Sligo Bay. There he is locally called Awnaun, and his well is situated a little to the east of the old church, at the other side of the road. From this well, the townland Toberawnaun46 derives its name. Between it and the townlaud Soodry runs the Dunmoran Stream. Over this rivulet, in connexion with a boreen, is the Drehid or "
Awnawn, Bridge of Adamnan," formed of a flag nine feet long, nine inches broad and two feet high, resting on two stones in the bed of the stream. It does not fill the whole breadth of the rivulet, so that at either end there is a vacant space between it and the bank. The natives say it was formed by the Saint, for
his convenience in going from his church to the strand. *? That shrine of
8 for it was afterwards removed to Iona. There it was regarded as a very sacred object. ** It seems probable, however, that there were two shrines called after Adamnan, the later, con-
1 taininghisownremains;5°theother,* containingthemiscellaneousobjects
mentioned in the catalogue. This latter was in after time coupled with his name, and preserved in his church of Skreen.
In the contemporary statements of Venerable Bede S2 and Ceolfrid, we
have the highest testimony borne to our Saint's character, for his proficiency in ecclesiastical and secular learning," and for all those virtues, which
Adamnan seems to have been
portable/
nani, cap. viii. , p. 337.
satchels in which the early ecclesiastics used to carry about their books. In the present
46
Resolvable into CobAft . <V6. Arrm. Ain.
notes on this name de Tir Fhiachrach, de
44 See the
in O'Donovan's " John
pp. 267, 268. Also, Addenda J. , pp. 416, S. Farannani, n. 42, p. 340. He pro-
interesting
vide — in qua, plura
Genealogies,
and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach," nn. (s. t. ), Sanctorum Hiberniae.
"
Februarii xv. Vita
417.
45 The site of the church is an old grant .
The Life of Farannan relates, that Tibraide, son of Maelduin, Lord of Hy-Fiachrach, bestowed upon St. Columba and his frater-
nity three pleasant portions of ground, one
"
nani dictus. "— "Acta Sanctorum Colgan's
mised to give a Catalogue of the relics contained in this shrine, when he should deal with the Life of St. Adamnan ; but needless to state, he did not live to fulfil that promise.
s° Referred to in the Annals at A. d. 727 and 730. This would allow but twenty- three years' interval between his death and the enshrinement of his remains,
of which
dicebatur, postea a S. Adamnano Abbate, Serin Adhamhnain, i. e. , Scrinium S. Adam-
locus isto sevo Cnoc-na-maoile
Tribes notis ad vitam S. Adamnani. " "Acta
calls it a Hibernise," Februarii xv. Vita S. Faran- which is the term used for the leathern
4? Some additions were
it, inordertocompletethecontinuityofthe path, but they were speedily removed, as foreign to the original design. The church derives its name from Adamnan's shrine, which was preserved there.
the words m instance, ciAij
48 That was the shrine which Cilline Droicthech, the fourteenth Abbot of Hy, son of Dicolla, brought to Erin to make peace and friendship between the Cinel Conaill and Cinel
:
commences thus " O fair youth, noble is
the theca thou hast taken upon thy back. " 52 See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Anglorum," lib. v. , cap. xv. , xxi.
S3 Mr. Pinkerton declares, he considers
49
age ; again,
most complete piece of such biography that
Eoghain.
of this King, that for seven days it rained blood
"
converso etiam lacte, caseo, et butiro in sanguinem. " This account appears to have been taken from the Saxon Chronicle, which refers such phenomenon to A. D. 685. Caradoc states, that in the fifth year of the reign of Ivor, King over the Britons, and who began his rule A. D. 689, showers of blood fell in Britain and Ireland. Those showers caused milk and butter to be converted into a sanguineous colour. The Annals of Clon- macnoise assign this portent in Ireland to a. d. 688 ; the Annals of the Four Masters to A. D. 690 ; and the Annals Tighernach to a. d. 693. The latter Annals state, that
throughout the whole of Britain,
reign
"
the blood flowed in streams for three days turned of a bloody colour. See Brut y
and three nights. See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's
Twysogion ; or the Chronicle of the Princes," edited by Rev. John Williams ab Ithel, M. A. , pp. 2 to 5. With some
"
Tigernachi Annales, p. 217.
Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomusii.
portents,
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 493
Adamnan is said to have witnessed, previous to the date for holding a very celebrated synod. The account is contained in a Tract styled the Fis Adamnain, or the Vision of Adamnan, an Irish composition of considerable antiquity,3 as proved by its style. Copies of it are yet extant. Like the visions of St. Fursey,4 it embodies a narrative, which passed current in conver- sation, as the realities of our saint's experience. This so-called Vision of Adamnan was written prosaically, partly in Latin, and partly in Irish. s This tract is a religious discourse on the text of the cxlvi. Psalm,6 verses 5 and 6,7 as taken from the Vulgate Version. Of these it opens with a paraphrase. A copy is to be found 8 in the Leabhar Breach a manuscript belonging to the Royal Irish Academy. 10 Another is stated to be in the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris. " There is also a copy of it—a quarto vellum "—among #
the Royal Irish Academy s MSS. *3 An imperfect copy was also in the hands of John McNamara, Esq. , Assistant Secretary to the Iberno-Celtic Society.
In the year 1870, appeared the first published original Irish text and literal English translation of Adamnan's vision,I4 furnished by Whitley
1*
and transcribed from Mr. Joseph O'Longan's lithographic 16
Stokes, Esq. ,
facsimile of the Lebor na Huidre, a manuscript of the eleventh
century. In the tract, published by Dr. Stokes, the Irish text is given, but in English characters on one page, with a literal English version on the opposite. The
prose tract itself is highly poetical in style of composition ; it has much literary merit ; and besides, it is one of the strangest among the medieval visions, which begin with that of the Irish St. Fursey, and culminate in that well-knownandsublimepoem,theDivinaComediaofDante. Dr. Stokesis
of opinion, however, that this piece is not the genuine production of Adamnan. That it cannot be older than the eleventh century, he thinks deducible from various reasons assigned. * After some introductory
variations of date, these prodigies are recorded in the "Annales Cambrise," by the same editor, at p. 8.
"
Suscipiens mansuetos Dominus : hu- milians autem peccatores usque ad terram. "
"There
no reason to question the antiquity of the
3 O'Donovan John
says,
8 The xVoArhnAm consists of two appears pp
parts, the Vision, and the Application. It occupies
eight double-columned folio pages.
9 At fol. 127 . a.
I0 This manuscript was written in the
fifteenth century, and extracts of it are to be found in John O'Donovan's •' Irish Gram- mar," at pp. 119, 341, 349, 350, 370, 381, 382, 440-442.
"Classed,AncienFond. No. 8175.
"Classed, No. 226.
I3 It is to be found in the Hodges and foitlfiijeA-o "oo A-OAmnAn . h. Chine, a Smith Collection.
vision. "—" Irish Grammar," p. 440.
4 See, this account in his Acts, which are
already given, and will be found, at the 16th of January, in the First Volume of this work, Art. i.
"
"
s The Irish part begins,
1f eAt) in po cpA pojuif ACAf -otijeA-o AinmcAi|i-oeAfa peAp n epm-o ffn& tepuJA-6 a ccopp ACAf a nAtitriAtro, FfUA hm-oApbA-o ptAij ACAf jemce acap ofinibA-6 -01b, AmtnL po
comtti "Oe ACAp pAcrpuicc. "
M " Fis Adamnain. " Slicht It is intituled ;
Here is
set down laws and regulations of spiritual Libair na Huidre. Adamnan's Vision,
friendship for the men of Ireland, for the Transcribed and Translated from the Book of correction of their bodies and souls, for ex- the Dun Cow. With notes. Fifty copies
pelling from them plagues and infidels, and privately printed ; Simla, printed at the manslaughter, as it was revealed to Adam- station press by J. Elston, mdccclxx.
nan, the descendant of Tine, in the counsel of God and Patrick. "— Edward O'Reilly's
Small 4to, 40 pages.
,s He has extended the contractions of the
"
Account of Hundred Irish Writers," p. 1.
Four
Irish and printed them in Italics.
Chronological
nearly
original
,6 The original is preserved in the Royal
6 The subject of this Psalm is an exhorta-
tion to praise God for his benefits.
i
Irish Academy's Library. The scribe of this MS. was murdered in the year 1 106.
"Magnus virtus ejus : numerus,
et
et sapientia ejus non est philological
he
states,
Dominus
are: first from the evidence adduced in its characteristics of Middle Irish ; next from
noster,
'7
magna These,
494 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September23.
observations regarding certain visions vouchsafed to the Apostles and Disciples of Jesus Christ, and in which they were shown mysteries and hidden things of Heaven's kingdom, the vision relates what was manifested to Adamnan Ua Tinne, the high sage of the western world, when his soul
passed
body
22
onthefestivalof the 18andwhenit was John Baptist,
fromhis
carried to Heaven by his guardian angel to behold the angels there, and towards Hell, to behold its wretched hosts. At first are described his intro- duction to the brilliancy and radiance of the celestial courts, their economy and order ; as also the glorious presence of the mighty Lord, with the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, the Pure Virgin Mary, the Disciples of Christ, the Virgins and bright hosts of souls around the throne. Six gates of pro- tection, each under the charge of special angels, have to be passed, before the soul is admitted to the presence of God. Having related all that was witnessed, in either place of abode, he especially noticed in that of torment
1
those Aircinnechs, who, in presence of the saints' relics, * administered
God's gifts and tithes, but who turned the profits from the strangers and poor of our Lord to their own private ends. Elsewhere, he brands those as " Sensual Aircinnechs. " This narrative proceeds to state, that Adamnan's soul desired to remain in the happy region. There it heard from behind
him, through a veil, the voice of his guardian angel, commanding it to be replaced in the same body from which it had passed ; and that it should relate in ecclesiastical and lay assemblies and conventions, Heaven's rewards andHell'spains,suchastheconductingangelhadrevealedtohim. Where- fore it was the precept, which Adamnan preached while he was alive. It was this precept, too, which had been preached in the great Convention of the men of Erin, when Adamnan's Rule was imposed on the Gaedhil ; and when women were made free by Adamnan and Finachta Fledach,20 son to Dunchadh, son to Aedh Slaine, the King of Erin, and likewise by the men of Erin. For it happened, that men and women went into battles and into conflicts indiscriminately, until Adamnan's regulations were imposed. In this descriptive tract, we find the glory of the Most High and the felicity of the Saints in Heaven portrayed ; the middle state of Purgation is delineated ; the dreadful pains and the inhabitants of Hell are also exhibited to us in all their hideous deformity. A considerable portion of the compo- sition must be regarded as purely the product of the writer's imagination, and drawn in a great measure from the description of the Heavenly Jerusalem,
in the Book of the 21 In its Apocalypse.
as St. given by
the
present form, it possesses internal evidence sufficient to prove, that it is
John
Evangelist
the author's mention of tithes, which Domus-martirum by Tirechan in Liber according to Dr. Reeves were unknown in Armacanus, fob 15, ba.
20
—reference to the imperial edict of Domitian vention was held under his successor,
Ireland until after 703; thirdly, from his
This is an anachronism; for the con-
Loingsech, son of Aengus. Finachta was slain in 693, according to Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters. " He was immediately succeeded by Loingsech. See vol. i. , pp. 296, 297.
2I
See chap. xxi. ,xxii.
"It mentions oechmA-o. A, "tithes,"
which were not known in Ireland, until
was the technical term among the Irish for
a saint's relics. From reliquice comes the contains an anachronism regarding the
a forgery according to Muratori of the period between 755 and 766—and, fourthly, from his anachronism about the Convention, at which Irish women were freed from liability to fight in battles. See p. I.
18
29th of August.
19 The word in the original is mAjtcfiA. It
His Decollation is celebrated on the
M
sepulchretum," and from Martyres, the tttAficAfire-Ach ot the Annals of Ulster at A. D. 721, 754, 1055, latinized
Convention at which Irishwomen were freed from liability to engage in battle, by Fin- nachta the Festive. Moreover, it fails in
Irish |ieiti5,
longafterthetimeofAdamnan. Again,it
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 495
u""" the Gorta, or Famine ; the Nuno or Scarcity ;
of Fruit " ;
23 A second vision, or rather a to supplement
not Adamnan's
the first vision follows. In it, the wickedness of Ireland's inhabitants, and also those mortalities with which they were visited, and must yet be visited, are
composition.
recounted. It mentions such visitations, as the Scamhach, or "
the Bo-ar, or M Cow " the toraid, or " mortality j Digbail Blight
"
" Human Mortality. " It announces, that prayer and fasting are the only sure preservatives against an infliction of those various evils. 2* The second part of Adamnan's vision contains instructions for the 35 that
was on the feast of the Decollation of the 26 apprehended, John Baptist.
How far St. Adamnan extended his missionary labours and travels
throughout Ireland has not been clearly ascertained, but some traces may be inferredfromtraditionsthatremain. WhenonavisittoIreland,Adamnan
2
is said to have preached to his relatives, ? the descendants of Fiacha, son to
and on a hill in the townland of 28 which ever since has borne Niall, Syonan,
his name. 29 The place is in the parish of Ardnurcher, diocese and county of Meath. 3°
The church of Raphoe, originally founded by St. Columkille, seems afterwards to have been presided over by St. Adamnan—also called Eunan— who is regarded as the Patron Saint. Local tradition states, that Adamnan
passed some time at this place, and memorials of him exist in that "
neighbourhood. AtRathbothorRaphoe, thefortofboothsorcottages," it has been thought, Adamnan or Eunan spent some of his closing years in
Ireland, not uninfluenced, perhaps, by the opposition of the island
monastery to its abbot's unremitting efforts to secure uniformity in the time
for celebrating Easter with the rest of the Christian Church. There above
every other place were his relatives powerful, and an episcopal See might
have been established in his time; the silence of early writers on this
matter not leaving it improbable, that he was then in episcopal orders. The
bishop of Raphoe—as our ancient annalists state—was Coarb of Adamnan,
or Coarb of Columba and Adamnan, the latter name being the distinctive one
in that place. 3
1
In like manner, at Raphoe was shown an object called Eunan's
authenticity, as is sufficiently manifested, prophesied by Columbcille, Moling and
from a reference to the Imperial Edict of Constantine of a donation to Sylvester, AbbotofRome.
23 The language of the Vision is marked by many characteristics of Middle-age Irish ; such as the confusion of e and i in desinence;
Aireran. The Annals of Clonmacnoise, at
550, attribute the prediction concerning the
ScuabFanaitto BeeMaDe,KingDermot
mac Cerbhail's poet. See Dr. O'Donovan's
"
Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (z. ), p. 196.
ae for and // for la, In ;
ndfor nn, ur for
2fi The of 29th day
putting
August.
2? This was the local tradition.
air, er, prosthesis of /; metathesis of cs and is ; final a for ae, at, e ; in the
Preface, p. liii.
2
3I After a lapse of 1,300 years, since the death of St. Columkille, a great Festival was inaugurated and celebrated at Gartan, in the County of Donegal, the place of his
oe,
28
It is Suix>e A-oArhnAm in Irish, that is, article disuse of the neuter forms of the " Seat of Adamnain. " The ruins oi a nom. and ace. singular, and use of na castle exist here, but Macgeoghegan says
for the nom. plural m. , the dual, and the that it was not church land.
dat. plural; in adjectives, use of the fem. *9 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the form in the nom. plural masc. ; and in the Four Masters," at a. d. 703, vol. i. , n. (u), case of verbs compounded with prepositions, p. 305.
use of absolute instead of subjoined forms. 3° See Rev. A. Cogan's "Diocese of
24 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's Meath, ancient and modern," vol. ii. , "Life of St. Columba.
" Appendix to chap, xix. , p. 497.
5The note on the Feilire of Aengus at
this day states, that the Scuab a Fanait or
Besom of Fanad was a plague which was to
visit Ireland in the latter times, in revenge birth. The observations contained in the for the beheading of John the Baptist, as text are arguments advanced by a djs-
averting mortality
Leprosy ;
aud the Dunibadh, or
496 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [Septembera3.
Bed, in the seventeenth century ; and a Round Tower, which the Bishops of
a
Raphoe had converted into a Museum,3 was there a short time previous.
Before Adamnan had been promoted as Abbot of Iona, Colgan expressly calls him Abbot at Raphoe. 33 Whether he filled the latter position or not has been questioned ; but, he was the person, by whose name the succession at Raphoe used to be distinguished. 34 He was particularly revered as the patron Saint of its monastery and church. It is considered as certain, that he had been closely connected with that place ; and if not absolutely the founder of its church, he was, at least, an abbot there over its monastery. 35 It is strongly suspected, by the learned Dr. Lanigan, that St. Eunan,36 who is usually called the first bishop of Raphoe, was no other than Adamnan ;37 not that he would allow Adamnan had ever been a bishop, for, were it so, he could not have become abbot of Hy, but that he was the ancient patron Saint of the place before it became an episcopal See, the period for such erection not being known. An object of veneration, called the Holy Cross ofRaphoe,stoodthereformerlyj perhapsithadsomerelationtothepatron saint. 38 The cross in question was afterwards removed from Raphoe to Armagh, by John Prene, Archbishop of this latter See, about the year 1441. 39 An opinion has been entertained, likewise, that Adamnan was abbot at Raphoe, which perhaps had been founded by himself, before he was appointed to govern the whole Columban order. Whether or not he repaired the monastery, said to have been erected by St. Columkille at Raphoe, may be doubted, as we find no sufficient warrant for this statement. *
In the present century, a suitable memorial of religious zeal and devotion has been raised to commemorate St. Adamnan or Eunan at Raphoe.
tinguished prelate, to show that Adamnan of
Iona was the same as Eunan, first bishop
of Raphoe. See an interesting illustrated
publication of the proceedings, intituled :
" Cuimne Coluimcitte," or the Gartan
Festival, being a Record of the Celebration very remarkable circumstance, that the
held at Gartan on the 9th June, 1897, the Thirteenth Centennial of St. Columba," Second Introduction, pp. 10 to 12. Dublin 1898, 8vo.
32 " Ostendebatur Raphoe, non ita pri-
dem, lectus ejus. Ibi porro turris erat
rotunda, colli imposita, in qua Episcopi Rapotenses Musseum olim habebant. "—Sir James Ware, " I)e Praesulibus Hibernise Commentarius. " Episcopi Rapotenses, p. 73.
festival of the saint called Eunan, is kept on the 23rd of September. Now this was the very day, on which Adamnan died, and on which his memory was revered, not only at Raphoe, but in many other churches. The name Eunan, is, I allow, not favour- able to the conjecture of his identity with
person better versed in the Irish language 33 See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta than I am might perhaps find some analogy
between them. " — " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xiii. , sect, v. , n. 59, p. 100.
38 In Dr. ODonovan's "Annals of the wise of Adamnan, insomuch as he had been Four Masters," vol. iv. , pp. 750, 751, we
Appendix ad Acta S. Columbae, cap. iii.
34 Thus Malbrigid, who died Archbishop of Armagh in 926, is called comorban or
successor, not only of St. Patrick, but like-
abbot and not bishop at Raphoe as Harris states, before he was raised to the See of
See Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
read, under the year 1397, a certain Hugh
MacMahon recovered his sight by fasting
in honour of the Holy Cross of Raphoe,
and the image of the blessed regarding
Armagh.
" of Bishops
Raphoe," p.
270.
35 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiastical Virgin Mary at Ath-Trim. In Harris'
History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xviii. , sect, v. , n. 59, p. 99.
—supposed to be first bishop at Raphoe— nor could Ware discover any account of him. The first bishop of Raphoe, that we meet
Bishops of Raphoe," p.
36 Colgan never mentions this St. Eunan
with on Colgan's List, was Malduin Mac
Kinfalaid, who died about 930. See
"Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Appendix
ad Acta S. Columbae, cap. vi. ( p. 509.
3? TheRev. Dr. Laniganadds "
: Itisa
Adamnan
have been might some
but there
reason for this variation of names, and a
;
"
Ware, vol. i. ,
270, this Hugh MacMahon is incorrectly styled Hugh Matthew.
39 See ibid.
40 It is affirmed, however, in Harris' Ware,
vol. i. ,
"
Bishops of Raphoe," p. 269.
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 497
While the Very Rev. Bernard Kelly, P. P. and V. F. , was in charge of the Parish of Raphoe, he conceived the idea of erecting a new Catholic Church
with appropriate ceremony, and the building was soon afterwards completed. The front of the
in honour of the Patron. *1 He entrusted the to Mr. design
Heavy, Architect in Belfast, who drew the plans and prepared the specifications for an Irish-Romanesque structure of moderate dimensions, and of unassuming ornament, but of effective style. In 1878 the foundation stone was laid,
Exterior of Catholic Church of St. Eunan, Raphoe.
suitableness in the
gable ; higher still is
a smaller window, and above it on the apex of the roof is a cross while on the
;
left-hand angle, a
round-tower, reach- ing to 'the height of 94 feet, terminated
by a tapering cap, and a neat iron cross
6 feet in height, pre- sents an imposing
In the
appearance.
upper compartment are round-headed opes to favour the sounds of a bell; beneath are two other windows of smaller dimensions to admit light to the different stages ; at the base
are projections in string courses on the outside ; and there is a doorway within
which connects it with the interior of the nave This latter extends from the entrance door 73 feet to the altar railing, while the width of the nave is 26 feet 4 inches. The masonry is finely dressed ; the walls are of sufficient thickness to give an air of solidity to the entire erection ; and buttresses are
41 The accompanying view of the exterior Festival ; being a Record of the Celebration of St. Eunan's Catholic Church, Raphoe, held at Gartan on the 9th June, 1897, the has been copied from an interesting and Thirteenth Centennial of St. Columba. " illustrated volume, issued to commemorate Dublin, M. H. Gill and Son, 1898, 8vo. a remarkable event, which had a special The photogravure, at p. 175, has been interest and attraction for the people of copied and transferred to the wood, en-
Donegal. Thebookinquestionisintituled: gravedbyGregorGrey.
Cuirhne Coluimcille," or the Gartan 42 The foregoing particulars were kindly
church is entered by a circularly-headed
doorway,surmounted by a rose window
of
corresponding
II
498 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September23.
on the outside. The rounded chancel, or apse, within which the altar stands, reaches to 17 feet from the enclosing rail to the end window. The three windows within the chancel are each 6 feet in height, by 2 feet in width. A vestry is built on the epistle-side of the altar, while access to it is through a door on the exterior, as also through one on the interior. On either side-wall of the nave are three circularly-headed windows ; each window is 1 1 feet in height, by 3 feet in width ; and they are filled in with coloured glass. On the interior of the church, the roof is elegantly coved and ribbed ; while it is sheeted with pitch-pine and varnished. It rests on
brackets having a good appearance. On the appointment of the present
Interior of St. Eunan's Catholic Church, Raphoe.
respected parish priest, Very Rev. Patrick Kelly, in 187 1, to meet the require- ments of his people, it was found necessary to erect a gallery, which is a great accommodationformanyofthecongregation. Accesstoitisfromacircular stair-way in the tower, and on it is an organ-loft and choir. The gallery is lighted from the rose window over the front entrance. '*'
It is related, that the illustrious Adamnan collected the Martra or Relics of the Saints into one Shrine. An ancient Codex«3 enumerates the twenty-six articles which were enclosed in it, consisting of manuscripts of
furnished to the writer by the Very Rev. 43 Contained in a Bruxelles Manuscript of Patrick Kelly, P. P. , in communications the Burgundian Library, classed No. dated March, 1899, with a photograph of 2324=40, p. 26. This was copied by the interior, from which the accompanying Michael O'Clery, ir. 1629, from " an old illustration has been reproduced and en- and difficult blackish manuscript of parch-
graved on the wood by Gregor Grey. ment. "
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 499
the Gospels, hymns, and poems ; articles of apparel belonging to the Saints of Ireland ; and a few relics of St. Paul and the Virgin Mary ; the aggregateofwhichmusthavefilledalargebox. ThisReliquaryseemsto have been deposited in a place, originally called Cnoc-na-maoile,*4 but afterwards known from the foregoing circumstances as Serin Adamhnain, or Adamnan's Shrine. At present, the place is denominated Skreen, a parish church^ in the diocese of Killala, county of Sligo, barony of Tireragh. It is bounded on the north by Sligo Bay. There he is locally called Awnaun, and his well is situated a little to the east of the old church, at the other side of the road. From this well, the townland Toberawnaun46 derives its name. Between it and the townlaud Soodry runs the Dunmoran Stream. Over this rivulet, in connexion with a boreen, is the Drehid or "
Awnawn, Bridge of Adamnan," formed of a flag nine feet long, nine inches broad and two feet high, resting on two stones in the bed of the stream. It does not fill the whole breadth of the rivulet, so that at either end there is a vacant space between it and the bank. The natives say it was formed by the Saint, for
his convenience in going from his church to the strand. *? That shrine of
8 for it was afterwards removed to Iona. There it was regarded as a very sacred object. ** It seems probable, however, that there were two shrines called after Adamnan, the later, con-
1 taininghisownremains;5°theother,* containingthemiscellaneousobjects
mentioned in the catalogue. This latter was in after time coupled with his name, and preserved in his church of Skreen.
In the contemporary statements of Venerable Bede S2 and Ceolfrid, we
have the highest testimony borne to our Saint's character, for his proficiency in ecclesiastical and secular learning," and for all those virtues, which
Adamnan seems to have been
portable/
nani, cap. viii. , p. 337.
satchels in which the early ecclesiastics used to carry about their books. In the present
46
Resolvable into CobAft . <V6. Arrm. Ain.
notes on this name de Tir Fhiachrach, de
44 See the
in O'Donovan's " John
pp. 267, 268. Also, Addenda J. , pp. 416, S. Farannani, n. 42, p. 340. He pro-
interesting
vide — in qua, plura
Genealogies,
and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach," nn. (s. t. ), Sanctorum Hiberniae.
"
Februarii xv. Vita
417.
45 The site of the church is an old grant .
The Life of Farannan relates, that Tibraide, son of Maelduin, Lord of Hy-Fiachrach, bestowed upon St. Columba and his frater-
nity three pleasant portions of ground, one
"
nani dictus. "— "Acta Sanctorum Colgan's
mised to give a Catalogue of the relics contained in this shrine, when he should deal with the Life of St. Adamnan ; but needless to state, he did not live to fulfil that promise.
s° Referred to in the Annals at A. d. 727 and 730. This would allow but twenty- three years' interval between his death and the enshrinement of his remains,
of which
dicebatur, postea a S. Adamnano Abbate, Serin Adhamhnain, i. e. , Scrinium S. Adam-
locus isto sevo Cnoc-na-maoile
Tribes notis ad vitam S. Adamnani. " "Acta
calls it a Hibernise," Februarii xv. Vita S. Faran- which is the term used for the leathern
4? Some additions were
it, inordertocompletethecontinuityofthe path, but they were speedily removed, as foreign to the original design. The church derives its name from Adamnan's shrine, which was preserved there.
the words m instance, ciAij
48 That was the shrine which Cilline Droicthech, the fourteenth Abbot of Hy, son of Dicolla, brought to Erin to make peace and friendship between the Cinel Conaill and Cinel
:
commences thus " O fair youth, noble is
the theca thou hast taken upon thy back. " 52 See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Anglorum," lib. v. , cap. xv. , xxi.
S3 Mr. Pinkerton declares, he considers
49
age ; again,
most complete piece of such biography that
Eoghain.
